Project Connect draws crowd to fairgrounds

Beth Cramer of Hudson was getting her hair trimmed Wednesday at Project Connect in the Merchants Building at the Lenawee County Fair and Event Grounds.

The free haircut was just one of the services offered at the event designed to help the homeless or people seeking a more permanent home by bringing together about 50 housing, social service, food assistance, employment, medical, legal, financial and other service providers in one place.

"I like it. I might come here again," said Cramer, who lives in an adult foster home and is seeking an apartment.

Cramer also got some warm clothes and blankets for herself and a friend and a coloring and sketch book for her nephew.

All the services and provisions were free.

Maria Moorehead of Adrian was starting lunch with two of her children, Aiden Jaso and Cadi Moorehead. A third child, Jax, was too young to brave Wednesday's still-frigid temperatures.

"The free haircuts were a plus, and just the books and blankets that we are in need of," Moorehead said.

Moorehead is living in a temporary housing situation and looking for permanent housing.

"That's another big reason why we came," she said.

Moorehead said she had talked to representatives of a private housing complex that works as a partner with local agencies helping the homeless.

Candy Taulton, co-chair of the Project Connect planning committee, said 126 households had registered at the event by about noon, with two hours still to go.

"I'm getting a lot of positive feedback," Taulton said. "People are really appreciating all the services that are here."

By the end of the day, approximately 175 households had attended, up from 152 last year, Taulton said.

At least two service providers were not able to make it Wednesday because of weather conditions, she said.

Adrian Dial-A-Ride was running and provided rides to the event from inside the city limits, but Lenawee Transportation, which had expected to provide rides from other parts of the county, was closed Wednesday because of road conditions, said Marcia Bohannon, transportation coordinator for Lenawee Transportation.

In coordination with Project Connect, Housing Help of Lenawee was conducting a point-in-time count Wednesday of homeless people and those in housing crisis, such as people "doubling up" with relatives or friends.

Besides counting people who came to Project Connect, the count was being taken at Housing Help of Lenawee, the Michigan Department of Human Services, Community Action Agency, the Veterans Administration, Community Mental Health and local homeless shelters, said Khristine Henson-Jones, executive director of Housing Help of Lenawee.

Because many schools were closed Wednesday, staff at the schools will provide figures later for students who were homeless on Wednesday, Henson-Jones said.

Last year, the point-in-time count found 662 people in Lenawee County who were homeless or near-homeless.

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